Failed mortgage lender Countrywide Mortgage, once the nation’s largest home lender, has agreed to pay $108-million in fines to the Federal Trade Commission for scamming homeowners in foreclosure out of excessive fees.

The Countrywide settlement comes more than two years after the FTC charged the failed lender with collecting excessive fees from cash-strapped mortgage borrowers in foreclosure. The cases involved jacking up fees for such services as property inspections, clean-ups, and charging $300 to mow a small track home’s lawn.

“Life is hard enough for homeowners who are having trouble paying their mortgage,” said FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz. “To have a major loan servicer like Countrywide piling on illegal and excessive fees in indefensible.”

Former homeowners that were victims of the alleged scam by the lender, taken over by Bank of America at the height of the Wall Street financial meltdown are expected to be reimbursed from the proceeds, but federal officials have not said how much or when they should expect to see any of the money.

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